Review Summary: Neurosis takes it up a notch with slower paced, more patient song structures and tighter musicianship.
Chapter 2: The Stepping Stone
Neurosis had just released their debut album in 1987, but it went virtually unnoticed. It was kind of easy to see why since it was pretty much run of the mill hardcore and crust punk, but it did show quite some promise on certain tracks. The Joy Division influence was evident on a few tracks, the growling vocals, the folk influence on Black, and the occasional tribal drumming. Next came
The Word as Law, which was a bit of a continuation of that sound. Things have changed this time though, with the addition of
Steve Von Till on guitar and vocals, even slower tempos, and more patient builds. From the opening power chord of Double Edged Sword, you know this is going to be a different band than the one on
Pain of Mind.
The sound has certainly matured this time around with sharper and more dissonant riffs, longer songs, and a denser sound.
Scott’s vocals are much better than their debut with a mix between his punk vocals and the vocals he employed on later albums such as
Enemy of the Sun.
Steve’s guitar work sounds much more refined this time around than
Scott’s or
Chad’s with a better tone, more dissonance, and a taste for Swans. Dave’s bass lines are accentuated quite a bit throughout this record since they are high up in the mix, and boy are they complex. He basically sounds like
Peter Hook or
Geddy Lee playing heavy metal. Jason’s drumming is perfect on this record and he mixes in influences ranging from Black Flag to Joy Division, once again. Overall, the musicianship seems to have a taste for progressive rock which is a nice touch.
For the actual songs, Double Edged Sword opens the album and it’s short, but it sounds so amazing. This track goes a few places with it’s dissonant opening, to the metallic riff, and it’s general feeling of chaos. The album continues along this sort of route for the most part, but the big change starts from Obsequious Obsolence. There is a build for about a minute with some droning textures and bass playing, then it switches into a crust punk kind of thing with a denser sound than normal for the band at the time. That is basically what was found on
Souls At Zero, but this song is a bit more to the point than anything on that record. It’s songs like this, Blisters, Tomorrow’s Reality, and Common Inconsistencies which really showed the direction they would move into. Now, while all this is great, there is a bit of a weak side.
The biggest weak side I could name is that the band doesn’t quite sound comfortable yet. This sounds a bit unsure of itself sometimes, which is not a huge gripe, but it is kind of noticeable. The other gripe is that they don’t stray off the same structures as much. I like the sound they have on this album, don’t get me wrong, but they overuse it a bit. It’s not to the extent of being formulaic or anything like that, but it gets a bit repetitive sometimes. The only other gripe is that the production isn’t as good as it could be. The bass is too high in the mix for me and the drums don’t have quite enough punch. Other than those, this album succeeds.
Overall, Neurosis certainly had an interesting stepping stone to follow from. This album doesn’t get nearly as much attention as it deserves, even though it’s kind of like Rush’s
Permanent Waves or Pink Floyd’s
Meddle to an extent. If I had to describe the sound of this record in one sentence, I would say it sounds like Joy Division-influenced heavy metal. To end it, I would recommend this album to anyone interested in the band since it serves as a signal for what was to come, and a very good album by itself.
